Handgun holders for small handguns and revolvers are well known. The earliest handgun holders were leather holsters almost fully encasing the gun which were used to hold a gun securely. The gun would then be drawn upward until the tip of the barrel cleared the holster and then the gun could be aimed and fired. The time involved in drawing the weapon upward became disadvantageous in competitive shooting and in police work and therefore alternate types of holsters have been developed. Present handgun holders also allow for the gun to be purposefully or accidentally fired while in the holster thereby possibly causing injury.
In order to deal with the problem of possible firing while holstered and to still allow for the gun to be drawn quickly from the holster, several patents have described attempts at dealing with either the problem of possible firing while holstered or optimizing drawability. The following patents illustrate such attempts.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,113,530 to Audley discloses a holster for magazine guns, comprising a body adapted to inclose the barrel, breech and trigger guard portions of the gun, the trigger guard inclosing portion of the holster being provided with a recess in its front wall disposed longitudinally of the holster, and a locking lug in line with said recess adapted to engage the finger guard.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,917,844 to Keith discloses a holster of the shoulder type and the invention resides in the construction of the holster itself and in the means for attaching and securing the holster on the body of the wearer, so as to retain the holster substantially immovable relatively to the body and concealed from view by a jacket thus dispensing with the necessity of the wearer wearing a vest or other garment in order to conceal the securing means. This invention attempts to provide for the safety of the wearer by a pair of leaf springs which fit into the trigger guard requiring the gun be unholstered by a particular movement, however, the gun may still be fired while in the holster.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,109,734 to Preneta discloses a gun holster adapted to removably support a gun, such as a revolver. The holster comprises a rigid pressed metal frame complementarily shaped to a substantial mating contour with the gun and is supported by a flexible sheath. The frame comprises a manually operable latch releasably controlled by a lever or finger piece engageable between the trigger and trigger guard of the gun. The frame may be composed of a single sheet metal member or of several metal members secured together as desired. A manually operable latch mechanism which firmly secures the gun within frame for quick release therefrom and prevents accidental pulling of the trigger when the gun is in its secured position, however, purposeful pulling of the trigger while the gun is still holstered remains possible.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,728 to Freed discloses a frame of a substantially rigid material which comprises at least one ledge element extending in the horizontal direction and engages and supports the weight of a pistol carried by the frame in a barrel down position and upwardly projecting means which serve to prevent lateral movement of the pistol from the ledge portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,469 to Baldocchi discloses a U-shaped holster to conform to the portion of the body of a handgun adjacent the trigger guard so that the trigger guard and a portion of the barrel are nested in the holster. A latch is provided which extends through the trigger guard and a safety may be provided to hold the latch in the latched position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,503 issued to Capano discloses an improved pistol holster with a lock-in means to prevent removal of the gun from the holster. A pin attached to a flexible strap or flap on the outer wall of the holster extends through the trigger guard of the pistol and the end of the pin is captured in holding means fastened to the inner wall of the holster. Thus, the locked-in pistol cannot be withdrawn from the holster without first pulling the strap to separate the pin from the holding means, however, the gun may still be fired while in the holster.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,771 issued to McClellan discloses a revolver holder comprising: a plate having a front face and a rear face; hammer engagement means upstanding from the front face of said plate for engaging the hammer; frame engagement means upstanding from the front face of said plate for engaging the frame; and keeper engagement means upstanding from the front face of said plate for engaging said keeper to hold the revolver in a fixed mounted relationship relative to said plate. The holder may also be provided with a belt buckle, but in order to remove the gun from the holder, the cylinder retention pin must be removed from the keeper engagement means, a time consuming process which renders a quick draw impossible.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,160 issued to Bianchi discloses an ambidextrous pistol carrying device. This device includes a mainframe member, an elongated spring member and a guard strap member connected to the mainframe member. The mainframe member includes a muzzle retainer portion, a bore-engaging protrusion on the muzzle retainer portion that extends at least partially into the bore, and left and right arm portions that extend from the muzzle portion along the sides of the pistol to positions above the trigger guard. The guard strap member includes a strap flexible material that fastens together through the trigger guard in order to inhibit premature trigger finger contact of the trigger when the pistol is drawn. Again, it is possible for the gun to go off while holstered.
The above related art summaries are merely representative of portions of the inventions disclosed in each reference. In no instance should these summaries substitute for a thorough reading of each individual reference. All of the above references are hereby incorporated by reference.
None of these references discloses a holster that would permit a gun to be withdrawn from the holster quickly and easily, while also prohibiting the gun from firing. Thus, it can be seen that there exists a need for a holster that will hold a gun securely to the person carrying it and allows for quick drawability but prevents the gun from firing while in the holster.